"A family located in north London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally miss the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.
However, it might be the most important part of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have now been submitted since the unidentified family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received attention throughout the media, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, said that despite initial skepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unusual character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they did not want the same situation to recur with their infant.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they wish to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who express those reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert noted that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a representation of UK identity, a person who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the result they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to live several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
